Generations Of Vets In Family Celebrate Veterans Day

Montana has one of the largest veteran populations in the nation. Two of those veterans spoke out on Monday from a smaller part of that population, the woman population.

91-year-old Carley Cromwell and her daughter Charlotte Davey are among a group of veterans who celebrated Veterans Day at Missoula Manor retirement home.

The day has a special meaning for their family, because at least four generations have served in the military.

"My grandparents, their siblings, my dad worked in World War Two, my mother, her brothers," Charlotte listed the veterans in her family.

Carley served as a navy nurse for about four and a half years during World War Two.

"When I was a little girl I always wanted to go into in the navy," Carley said.

She spent most of her time in Hawaii, splitting her time between a ship and a 2,500 bed hospital, helping thousands of wounded men recover.

"You're constantly being a savior, what ever you can do to save them, and it's day in and day out," Carley said.

She realized how important her job was when she ran into one fellow veteran on the Big Sky Honor Flight last year.

Carley said, "He said I know you took care of me in 1943."

She said the man knew it was her when he saw Carley's name tag.

"He said, 'Your name is Carley, I think it's the funniest name on earth, and I don't think anyone else has it, so I know you took care of me," she said.

Charlotte wanted to get the same life changing experience. She followed her parents and brothers' leads in joining the military, and ended up working as a jet engine mechanic for the Marine Corps for 14 years.

"The military allowed me to mature, travel, I was able to teach," Charlotte said.

After generations and generations of serving our nation, Veterans Day will always have a special meaning to the family.

Students with their whole lives ahead of them and the teachers who tried to protect them were among the 17 people killed when a gunman opened fire with an AR-15 at a large high school in south Florida.

Students with their whole lives ahead of them and the teachers who tried to protect them were among the 17 people killed when a gunman opened fire with an AR-15 at a large high school in south Florida.